Oil components are widely used in the field of cosmetic and food products. In the production of oil components, however, various unwanted secondary products, often with unpleasant odors, are formed in addition to the target product. It is precisely in the sensitive cosmetic and food markets that the sensory properties of starting products are so important.
In order to eliminate these troublesome secondary products, i.e. the troublesome odor of the oil components, so-called deodorization is generally carried out, troublesome substances being separated off by carrier vapor or carrier gas distillation. In many cases, the oil components still have a characteristic odor even after this separation step.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to provide a process in which the odor of oil components would be distinctly improved by the use of easy-to-handle and regeneratable auxiliaries and the purified products would have a high degree of purity.
The use of conventional adsorbents, such as active carbon and bleaching earths, was not a solution because, in the purification of the oil components, adsorbents such as these soil the filter presses for example, so that impurities can be carried over.
However, the problem stated above can be solved by not only deodorizing the oil components, but also purifying them using polymeric adsorbents. Oil components can be purified with particular effect using polymeric adsorbents having an inner surface of 900 to 1500 m2/g.